Wednesday, May 25, 2016

eLearning Africa: Impatient Africans “Not Going To Wait Until 2063”

Press Release

There is a
mood of impatience among the ministers, businessmen and education experts
attending this year’s eLearning Africa conference in Cairo. Aware of the
opportunity offered by information and communication technologies to spread
education, training and access to information throughout Africa, many are
starting to feel that 2063, the date the African Union has set for the
realisation of its vision of a ‘transformed continent’, may be too long to
wait. They want Africans, and particularly young people, to feel the benefits,
which the combination of technology and education can bring, within the next
ten years.

And one of Africa’s leading intellectuals, Professor Ismail Serageldin, the
founder and Director of the Bioblioteca Alexandrina, said:

“It’s the dawn of a new age! Let’s embrace it. There is so much we can do for a
new generation and for the whole world… We cannot let the gap between us and
the advanced nations continue to grow. We must translate rhetoric into action.
Rhetoric, declarations, plans and targets are not equal to action.”

Experts at the conference agree that failure to accelerate the pace of change
could have devastating consequences for Africa.

“There is a widespread awareness among educators, politicians and businessmen
that we really have to move quickly now,” says Charles Senkondo, Executive Director
of Tanzania’s
Global Learning Agency. “We’re all aware that Africa
is a young continent and that soon the majority of our population will be under
the age of 24. We can’t afford to leave the future of 200 million young
Africans to chance. Unless we invest heavily in education and training, and
ensure that our young people are fully equipped to compete in the digital age,
we will store up some very serious social problems for ourselves and our
neighbours.”

The view was echoed by Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, founder of RISE Networks
and a leading social entrepreneur, who addressed the conference this morning
(Wednesday)
.
“56 million Africans aged 15 / 24 haven’t completed primary education…,” she
said. “The more uneducated children Africa
has, the more prisons we’ll have to build.”

The theme of this year’s eLearning Africa is
‘Making Vision Reality’ and, during two days of discussions, debates and
practical demonstrations, conference participants from all overAfricawill
focus their attention on how to turn the dream of change into reality.

“The African Union’s
2063 Vision is a wonderful challenge for Africans,” says Senkondo. “It has
education at its heart and we all want to make it happen. Here at eLearningAfrica,
we’re all focusing now on moving beyond ideas to implementation. There’s a real
willingness to collaborate and to share knowledge and experience, so that the
whole ofAfricacan
move ahead.”

Many of the concerns
expressed by conference participants were shared by African ministers attending
yesterday’s eLearning Africa Ministerial Round Table, which was held under
Chatham House Rules. A communique outlining the Round Table’s conclusions will
be released later today.

For more information about eLearning Africa, which is Africa’s largest conference
on technology-assisted learning for education, training and development, please
contact: press-service@icwe.net

About
eLearning Africa
Every year eLearning Africa brings together over 1,200 eLearning experts,
high-level decision makers, practitioners, researchers, entrepreneurs and
stakeholders from over 90 countries, and from across the education, business
and public sectors. They discuss, debate, inform, share experience and plan
action. In 2016, eLearning Africa will be hosted by Egypt’s Information Technology
Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), under the patronage of H.E. Yasser ElKady,
Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

As the largest conference of its kind, the three-day event has become widely
recognised as an unmissable occasion for anyone with an interest in education
in Africa. It provides outstanding
opportunities to learn, understand, present, promote, exhibit, connect and
develop new partnerships.